GAME AUDIO NETWORK GUILD (G.A.N.G.) ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR 6TH ANNUAL G.A.N.G. AWARDS
Awards Ceremony to Take Place Thursday, February 21st, 2008 During Game Developers Conference in San Francisco
20 Year Industry Veteran Brian Schmidt to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
LOS ANGELES, CA (Feb. 6th, 2008) – The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), the non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of game audio, announced the finalists for the 6th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards to honor outstanding creative, technical and artistic audio achievement in the world of interactive entertainment.
Voted and judged upon by the game audio industry and members of G.A.N.G., this year’s finalists represent an array of the best audio in games from 2007. Over 1,200 people representing over 30 countries have signed up as members of G.A.N.G. since its inception in 2002.
"It took the 50 person G.A.N.G. Advisory Board over a month to decide the final nominees," said Tommy Tallarico, G.A.N.G. Founder, CEO and Chairman. "With over 350 entries received this year, just being a final nominee is something to be very proud of. When you see and hear the amazing quality of the titles nominated I think you get a very good sense of where the game audio industry is headed."
Winners will be announced at the 6th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards ceremony being held on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 in San Francisco, CA during the Game Developers Conference. The show will take place in the North Hall of the Moscone Center (Room 134) and will include live video game music performances throughout the evening.
Finalists for the 6th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards are listed below by category.
AUDIO OF THE YEAR
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
God of War II
Halo 3
Mass Effect
MUSIC OF THE YEAR
Assassin’s Creed
BioShock
God of War II
Halo 3
The Golden Compass
SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Crysis
The Orange Box
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
Dead Head Fred
God of War II
Halo 3
Mass Effect
Red Steel
BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE
BioShock
Flow
God of War II
LOTR Online: Shadows of Angmar
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
BEST HANDHELD AUDIO
Dead Head Fred
MLB 07: The Show
Shrek The Third: Shrek’s Way
Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow
Transformers
BEST AUDIO – OTHER
Grim’s Downfall (online game)
Jewel Quest II
Nine Billion Miles From Earth (online game)
Treasure Tunes (online game)
Website for Halo 3 Soundtrack
BEST CINEMATIC/CUT-SCENE AUDIO
BioShock
Halo 3
Heavenly Sword
Hellgate: London
Mass Effect
BEST DIALOGUE
BioShock
God of War II
Halo 3
The Orange Box
The Simpsons Game
BEST ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL
"Welcome To Rapture" – BioShock
"Infiltrating The Eagle’s Nest" – Blazing Angels 2
"Main Menu" – The Golden Compass
"Epilogue" – Lair
"The Citadel" – Mass Effect
BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – CHORAL
"City of Jeruslaem" – Assassin’s Creed
"Joan of Arc" – Bladestorm
"Luck" – Halo 3
"Main Titles" – God of War II
"Divine Intervention" – Universe At War: Earth Assault
BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL – POP
"Jerusalem Horse Ride" – Assassin’s Creed
"Beowulf’s Army" – Beowulf
"M4 Part II" – Mass Effect
"Still Alive" – Portal
"Lament of the Highborne" – World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
BEST USE OF LICENSED MUSIC
BioShock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80’s
Rock Band
Skate
BEST ARRANGEMENT OF A NON-ORIGINAL SCORE
Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Purr Pals
The Simpsons Game
BEST GAME AUDIO ARTICLE, PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST
"The Golden Compass Composer Diary – GameSpy
"The World of Game Composing" – Film Music Magazine
"What’s The Score?" – British Academy Magazine
"Video Games Live" – Eurogamer TV Show
"Does it Sound Next-Gen?" – Game Developer Magazine
MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF AUDIO
LOTR Online: Shadows of Angmar – "The Player Music System"
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 – Audio controlling graphics & physics engine
Treasure Tunes (online game)
Flow
Mass Effect – dialogue engine
BEST USE OF MULTI-CHANNEL SURROUND IN A GAME
BioShock
Crysis
Halo 3
Lair
God of War II
Other presentations include the Rookie of the Year award, Student/Apprentice competition winners, the G.A.N.G. Recognition Awards and the G.A.N.G. Scholarship for game audio with Ex’pression College for Digital Arts, valued at over $10,000.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to 20 year game industry veteran Brian Schmidt who is best known for his audio work in classic games such as MADDEN FOOTBALL, DESERT STRIKE, STAR WARS TRILOGY, and the award-winning Crue Ball. His theme from the original NARC arcade video game was later covered and recorded by The Pixies. In 1998, Brian left the freelance world to work at Microsoft, where he set the direction for game audio technologies for Windows and Xbox for the next decade.
About the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.)
The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) was founded in 2002 by the top game audio professionals as a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of game audio for the interactive arts. G.A.N.G.’s mission is to promote and educate the masses in regards to interactive audio by providing information, instruction, resources, guidance and enlightenment not only to its members, but to content providers and listeners throughout the world. G.A.N.G. empowers its members by establishing resources for education, business, technical issues, community, publicity and recognition. G.A.N.G. provides a sense of community to its fellowship and the interactive community through the sharing of knowledge and experience among members and related organizations industry-wide.
More information can be found at the G.A.N.G. website: www.audiogang.org.
Diamond Sponsors: DTS, Intel, APM, American Federation of Musicians, Sumthing Else Music Works, Escalet. Gold Sponsors: Dolby Laboratories. Bronze Sponsors: NARAS Producers & Engineers Wing, Killer Tracks, Video Games Live. Patron Sponsors: Midway Home Entertainment, RipTide Music, Inc., Audiokinetic, Minnetonka Audio Software. Program partners: Ex’pression College for Digital Arts, Pyramind, Conservatory for Recording Arts and Sciences.
Additional G.A.N.G. Awards show sponsors include: Bungie, Law Offices of Jim Charne, Crytek, THX and Sony Computer Entertainment of America.